


Different Kinds of Fire

by naberiie



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pining, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 07:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naberiie/pseuds/naberiie
Summary: Link collapses, injured, on a riverbank. Sidon said he'd always be there to catch Link when he falls.





	Different Kinds of Fire

Link pressed a shaking hand to his gut, curling over himself until he felt the horse’s mane against his face, until the only thing he could hear over the fierce storm was its breath as it galloped away from the camp. The bokoblins and moblins screamed above the wind, hurtling arrows and rocks at him as he ran.

He ran away.

He hadn’t expected the camp, he should have approached the mountain trail with more caution but he’d gotten cocky and careless and the result was an arrow buried deep in his gut, fired from a moblin with a bow twice as tall as Link. It was all he could do to swing a clumsy shot at a mounted bokoblin, pull himself onto the saddle, and kick it into a gallop, back the way he’d come, back towards the bridge, before the others could rouse themselves and finish the job.

_ Have to make it to the river. _

He could clean it, find shelter, rest - he’d noted a rocky outcropping on the banks that would provide shelter for a fire.

He just had to make it there first.

Hot blood oozed over his fingers, dripping down his elbows and legs and he fought back the nauseated screams of pain as chilled rain mixed with the bright rust of his blood. The horse whinnied, smelling the blood and sending it into a panic. He winced, a cry slipping out from between his clenched teeth as the horse nearly stumbled, scattering rocks as it went. 

How he kept himself upright with a two-foot long arrow buried in his guts, he had no idea. Some memory of a pain worse than this kept his free hand tight on the mane, kept his center of balance centered above the barrel of the horse. Every step lanced him through with a fresh wave of pain, and when he picked up his head, eyes swimming with tears and red at the edges, he almost wept when he saw the banks of the river, churned into an angry swell by the storm raging around him.

He slid off the horse - the saddle slick with blood, the horse’s coat dark rust red now and he didn’t even have the mental capacity to feel sorry for the poor panicked thing - and his knees buckled as soon as he touched the solid earth. Link gave a shuddering moan, fighting back the urge to empty his stomach on the banks. He was so close. He was  _ so close. _

Some part of his mind whispered it wouldn’t be fatal. Mipha hadn’t risen from the ether to heal him. It wasn’t fatal.

Even though it sure as hell  _ felt _ fucking fatal.

He crawled towards the water, one hand still pressed over the wound, nausea rising as he felt the thick wooden shaft twitch with every one of his movements. He had to make it to the water, had to clean and dress the wound.

He wasn’t going to make it. The black creeping around the edges of his vision was swallowing him whole now, and in desperation he reached out one hand for the bank, knowing it was stupid to collapse facing the water, but he was  _ so close _ -

One bloodstained hand dipped into the cold clean waters of the river, but even its chill couldn’t fight back against his fading consciousness. The rain poured in sheets all around him, and he was soaked through with both blood and rain now. 

He couldn’t even summon the energy to think about taking the arrow out, couldn’t even raise a mental hand to strip off his cloak and staunch the flow of blood.

The last thing he saw before the blackness took him was a flash of bright golden eyes through the mist of rain dancing on the water.

* * *

He woke to the smell of roasting fish.

He woke to the smell of a  _ campfire. _

Link didn’t open his eyes right away. He kept his breathing calm and steady - maybe someone had seen the horse, bloodstained and panicked, and followed it to find him by the river - as he focused his other senses.

He was warm. Covered in a blanket, lying close to the fire on another blanket, but he could still feel the myriad edges of small water-smoothed rocks under the fabric against his back. The gentle murmur of rain on water, and on the rocks overhead that made a shelter. A louder, steadier drip, drip, drip of what he could only assume were his own wet clothes, strung out to dry. Something swimming close by? He could hear something cutting through the waves under the gentle rain.

Ah, yes. That was the next part. He wasn’t wearing his bloodstained cloak and tunic anymore. He took a deep breath, gentle and hesitant, making sure to move slowly in case his wound-

There was no accompanying, sickening twitch of an arrow shaft, and though his guts still cried in pain, there were no blackening screams of agony anymore, and only then did he open his eyes.

A blazing campfire, somewhat sloppily made, cast bright golden light over the otherwise shadowed recesses of the cave. Sure enough, there were his cloak and tunic, rumpled but clean, drying on the opposite side of the fire. Two bass were skewered on sticks and propped over the fire, and there was a bunch of mushrooms and apples ready for roasting at his feet. Link was lying in a corner, mostly protected from the wind as the storm continued outside - much calmer than it’d been… however long ago, when he’d collapsed. He sat up carefully, wincing as he did, pressing a hand to his wound subconsciously and jerking back in surprise when he touched a mound of something unpleasantly damp pressed to his side.

An entire bunch of Hyrule herbs, mashed into some sort of poultice. 

Link blinked in confusion, and then turned to the entrance of the cave, where he saw a slice of bright red, swimming back and forth in front of the cave, almost as if it were pacing.

His heart stammered, faltered for just a moment, his exhausted nerves lighting up from toe to tip - he’d recognize that silhouette anywhere.

He picked up a small pebble and tossed it into the water, bracing himself against the stone behind him in the most comfortable sitting position he could find, and watched as the innocuous rock landed with a quiet  _ plop! _ in front of Prince Sidon’s head.

The nervous pacing - or active guarding? Link wasn’t sure - stopped at once. Still underwater - it must be deep, near the mouth of the cave - Sidon turned, poked the very top of his head out of the water, made eye contact with Link, who gave a nervous wave and a hesitant smile, hoping the prince couldn’t see the blush that was definitely making its way up his entire body at the moment.

And then it was like the river exploded.

Sidon had a habit of making only the most dramatic entrances, and if it was enough to send Link into a furiously flustered state when he was healthy and whole and not suffering a vicious wound to his side, in the state he was in now, it all but knocked him out again.

“LINK!”

Sidon erupted for the water and once again, just like always, Link was struck by the sheer  _ size _ of the Zora Prince, and it knocked the already weak breath out of his lungs almost entirely. Sidon had to crouch to enter, and the fire spit angrily as the river all but washed up into the small cave, but Sidon’s eyes were only for Link. 

Which did little to help Link’s nervously pattering heart.

“Link! Link, my most cherished friend, I found you bleeding on the bank - are you feeling better? I was so worried - I did my best for the poultice there, I know Hylians favor that herb for healing - it was a good thing I was patrolling this branch or else who  _ knows _ what might have happened - the arrow, it was bokoblin make, where are they? I’ll make them pay for hurting you, it was a close thing and I was as gentle as I could be-”

_ Hylia help me _ , Link thought weakly, staring up at Sidon as the Zora bustled into the cave, folding himself to kneel close to Link, grasping his hand in both of his and Link couldn’t help but shiver, goosebumps running up and down his bare back at the gentle strength of Sidon’s worried grip on him.

Link cleared his throat and reluctantly freed his hand from Sidon’s grasp to sign, < _ You found me?> _

Sidon nodded, his jaw clenched tight as he stared at Link. “Travelers have been reporting more and more monster camps in this section, so I’ve taken it upon myself to patrol it as often as I can.”

_ <Thank Hylia you did _ .>

The campfire crackled, and a new wave of heat washed over Link as he realized just how close Sidon was to him, now.

Briskly, to take his mind off of it, he signed quickly, < _ How long?> _

He’d meant  _ how long have I been out? _ But Sidon shook his head, flashed him a small smile, “Not long at all. I found you very soon after you collapsed, five minutes or so… any longer and I think you might have lost too much blood to make it.”

Link told himself that he was imagining the pain in Sidon’s voice at that.

It went quiet again, but not an uncomfortable quiet. A gentle, familiar, intimate sort of quiet. Exhaustion was starting to creep up his limbs again, but Link forced himself to stay awake for just a few minutes longer.

_ <You found me so fast, _ > Link wondered, almost absentmindedly.  _ <Zora’s Domain isn’t that close… we’re a day’s walk or more…> _

Sidon leaned back, swallowed hard, and Link could almost see the thoughts spilling against one another in his head as Sidon laughed brusquely and waved his hand. “You forget how much faster I can swim than you can walk, dear friend!”

Link nodded, and told himself it was just the light of the fire on Sidon’s cheeks, not a blush - besides, he didn’t even know if Zora  _ could _ blush.  _ <Thank you, Sidon. I owe you my life.> _

Better to be formal than assumptive, Link figured.

Sidon gave him a true smile this time, and leaned forward to grasp Link’s hands again. “You saved us from Vah Ruta’s rain, my friend. It’s like I said before: I’ll always be there to catch you, should you fall.” 

Link’s heart hammered against his ribs, and he had to drop his eyes lest Sidon see the thoughts racing through his mind.

Rain fell against their shelter, and after a moment Sidon gave him another, gentler smile. “I can see you are tired. Rest now, Link. I will be here when you wake.” The Zora Prince gracefully slipped back out into the river, and Link fell asleep to the sounds of Sidon’s patrol, fell asleep dreaming of his gentle, firm grasp on his hands, and told himself not to see things that weren’t there.

* * *

He woke next to birdsong, and a campfire burned to low, glowing embers. 

The world outside the entrance to his recuperation cave was hazy in the pale blue, pre-dawn sort of way, and Sidon was no longer swimming back and forth in front of the entrance. Instead, the prince was dozing in the shallows, his head resting on his arms bare of his princely regalia. 

Link’s poultice had been changed for fresh herbs, and it didn’t hurt to breathe so much any more. He shifted so that the pale light fell on his torso, and peeled the mass of healing plants back to examine the wound himself. He ignored the steadfast thought in his head that Sidon had been gathering materials and changing the poultice. 

It was a deep, angry wound, still inflamed and red and warm to the touch, and Link swallowed thickly as he realized that he would be exceptionally lucky to make it past this without it getting infected. It hadn’t been a poisoned arrowhead, otherwise the wound would be a nasty shade of purple, but it was still worrying to see the skin pulled tight and angry around the gash in his guts. He’d been extremely lucky that it hadn’t hit anything, just like he’d been extremely lucky that Sidon had been patrolling this stretch of the river when he’d collapsed. But it seems his luck was going to run out. 

He didn’t want to wake and worry Sidon, so he let the prince sleep on, ignoring the charming little snores and ignoring that voice that wanted him to look how cute Sidon was when he was sleeping. Link picked off a bit of roasted mushroom - still mostly warm, thank Hylia - and drank a little bit of the cold, fresh water that Sidon had put on a mostly flat rock near his makeshift bedspread. 

He prayed that an infection and fever would pass him by until he fell asleep to the sound of Sidon’s gentle breaths.

* * *

It did not pass him by.

He was on fire.

He was  _ burning _ , burning alive, and he woke up with a pained, choked gasp as the fever rooted into every nerve of his body and took hold like a wildfire.

“Link??” The sound of an angry brute wave and then Sidon’s cool hands on his back, on his forehead. “Link - Hylia, you’re burning up-”

Link, twisted into the foetal position, could do nothing more than moan in pain as his body fought off whatever thing the arrowhead had brought with it. His head and throat and lungs pounded, but the wound felt like someone had slipped a live coal into his guts and stitched the skin closed over top. He bit down on the blanket and tried not to scream as the sweat poured over him, even as he shivered like he’d been buried in a snowbank.

“Link!”

_ Too hot, too hot-  _ he kicked off the blanket, narrowly missing Sidon as he did, and tried to sign  _ <water, need to be cold> _ but his hands wouldn’t obey. They clenched tightly around his chest, and Link heard rather than felt his breaths coming fast and panting, could hear the panic in Sidon’s voice as he tried to figure out how to ease the wildfire of pain burning in every vein of Link’s body.

Suddenly - a cool breeze - he was being lifted, carried, in the air, the deliciously cool air, pressed against Sidon’s chest - and then.

Cold, clean, breathtakingly cold water.

His limbs unlocked from the fire, and floated, weightless, in the gentle currents of the stream. Something was holding him tight, holding him close, and as the waters lapped up against his bare chest - the poultice determinedly clinging on - Link’s head fell back against someone’s chest. 

Against Sidon’s chest.

“I have you, Link! I have you.”

Sidon was cradling him, Link realized. The fire was slowly being doused, and now he realized, gradually, sweetly, that Sidon’s arms were wrapped around him, that his head was resting on Sidon’s shoulder. That Sidon was struggling to sound positive as he kept murmuring, against Link’s hair, “I have you. I have you. I have you.” The Prince’s voice was shaking, and Link could feel his heart hammering against his ribs. As Sidon kept them afloat, his movements under the water pulsed gently against Link’s limbs. Bright, midday sunlight pierced through his tightly shut eyes as his breathing slowed, as his body uncurled and relaxed in Sidon’s grip.

Sidon pressed his cheek against Link’s hair, and Link matched his breath to his.

“I’ll always catch you.”

Link closed his eyes, and his hand found Sidon’s, and when their fingers intertwined neither of them pulled away.

Neither of them let go.

They drifted in the water until Link - exhausted once more - fell into a deep, dreamless sleep in Sidon’s arms.

* * *

The moonlight cut a bright knife of silver into the cave, and when Link opened his eyes, he knew that the worst was over.

Sidon wasn’t in his spot in the shallows, and Link’s heart stuttered for just a moment - until he heard the telltale sound of a Zora cutting through the water.

Getting to his feet took a little more time than he was used to - he would have to recuperate for a few more days until the wound was fully closed before heading on the road again - and he had to brace himself against the stones, but once he was on his feet, his mind knew what to do. 

Maybe he had been imagining things, in his fever state. Maybe.

But… maybe he hadn’t.

Link stood and walked slowly to the mouth of the cave, and watched Sidon cut through the bright silver waters under a full moon. He was swimming against the current out in the deep, darker waters in the middle of the wide river, his bright red skin the only thing not sapped of color under the bright moonlight.

Link watched, observing how quickly Sidon cut through the water, appreciating every graceful and strong, smooth motion. 

Even though his mind was racing, his heart was calm.

Link took a step into the water. It lapped against his ankles, and Sidon stopped moving. He brought himself out of the water, and he stared at Link, and he smiled, big and beautiful, and Link’s mind calmed at once.

Sidon started to swim towards him, and Link took another step into the water, and then another, staring at Sidon all the while, taking careful steps until he was almost waist-deep in the crystal clear waters of the river and Sidon was right in front of him, golden eyes bright with an intense curiosity and anticipation that nearly crashed Link over like a storm-addled wave.

“You’re feeling better, I see,” Sidon murmured. A simple, pleased observation.

Link nodded, and then took a breath. Sidon held his gaze fast, both of them waiting in the silence of the night. Link brought his hand to his mouth, his fingers together and brushing his lips before moving up to his cheek, and Sidon’s eyes widened and Link discovered with a jolt of pleasure that yes, indeed, Zora  _ can  _ blush. And blush hard.

Sidon smiled shyly, leaned down, and pressed his lips to Link’s. Cool, like the water they were standing in. Gentle, like his hands on Link’s waist. An exhilarating pleasure as his breath became Sidon’s own.

A different kind of fire, this time, a different kind of floating away - still in Sidon’s arms, all the same.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://naberiie.tumblr.com/), [twitter](https://twitter.com/naberiie)


End file.
